The Missile Defense Agency wants a laser-equipped drone that would be a silver bullet for stopping North Korea

A
concept drawing of what the boost-phase interceptor drone could
look like.Boeing

The US Missile Defense Agency just issued a bold request for
proposals for a missile defense system that could change the game
and act like a silver bullet against North Korean missile
launches.

The MDA asked for
proposals to build a high-altitude long-endurance unmanned
aircraft capable of flying higher than 63,000 feet and
carrying a laser to shoot down ballistic missiles as they arc
upwards towards the sky.

While the laser system sounds like something out of science
fiction, — and is something the US Navy has struggled
to field for over a decade — Ricky Ellison of the Missile Defense
Advocacy Alliance told Business Insider that this drone could be
the perfect application of the technology.

"What it can do is intercept missiles in the boost phase,
therefore you don’t need to have billion dollar radars all over
the world to intercept with 80 million dollar interceptors," said
Ellison.

Ballistic missiles fly high into earth's atmosphere before
breaking apart, often releasing multiple reentry vehicles,
countermeasures, and decoys. This makes them a nightmare for
traditional missile defense systems which track the launch and
then fire interceptor vehicles to smash them apart upon
reentry.

Meanwhile, a solid state laser can be fired continuously for
dollars a minute, about what you'd pay for electricity in your
home. Though building the platform would cost millions in
research, development, and testing.

Traditionally, while boost-phase interception looks more
attractive on paper because it hits the missile in a more
vulnerable stage, it's been impractical because the interceptor
has to be close to the projectile.

So there's just no way the US could intercept a missile fired
from central Russia or China in its boost phase. With a small
country like North Korea though, US drones right off the border
could melt down missiles with a light-speed weapon in the
cloudless upper atmosphere.

Ballistic
rocket is seen launching during a drill by the Hwasong artillery
units of the KPA Strategic Force.Thomson Reuters

"This would be far more efficient to have boost-phase intercept
capability over that territory at that height to handle
that," said Ellison. "As North Korea develops countermeasures,
decoys, MRV (multiple reentry vehicles), and all the things that
will continue to evolve, you have a great opportunity to
eliminate all those advancing technologies before all that gets
dispersed."

The MDA hopes to field this technology by 2023, at which point
most experts agree North Korea will have perfected an
intercontinental ballistic missile.